Mysteries
by Locked Away
Summary: An accident leaves Courtney in a hospital/school for people who are in some way realted to the mystical world of supernaturality. She learns of a dark past and is faced with probably one of the worst things ever. At least she has Duncan on her side....
1. Voices

**A/N:**** Heeeeeeey you guys. Heh.. I'm back. Finally. Been a lot going on in my life. I'm really sorry. But here I go with rewrites. I'm hoping I can really get back up and running on here like I keep wanting to do. Like I said, been a lot going on in life… But I'll try really hard. Writing makes me feel great so it's good to be back. Hope you enjoy.**

_Chapter 1_

My head throbbed and I couldn't feel anything. It was as if I was completely numb, all except for my head of course. I moved around a little and with each movement all of my feeling started to come back and soon enough my whole body ached. It was awful. I thought someone had picked me up and thrown me a wall repeatedly. Basically, I felt awesome. My delightful dose of pain was interrupted by a nervous, feminine voice. "Courtney? Courtney, can you hear me?" It asked.

'_I hope she's okay.'_ Someone else said.

My eyes shot open and I saw a woman, a nurse, – no one else was there, as if I had just imagined the other voice – who appeared to be the age of 32 or 33. She had bleach blonde hair and the bluest eyes I'd ever seen in all of my 17 years of living. Not a wrinkle had ever touched her face. Her features were perfect. The only thing that could possibly make her feel self-conscience was the fact that she was ever so slightly heavy set.

"Courtney?" she asked again, cocking her head to the side as if to egg on a response from me.

'_Come on, speak to me.' _The other voice said. I still couldn't find the owner of the voice but decided to focus more on the matter at hand and find out what the hell was wrong with me.

"Yes?" I moaned. It hurt to speak. It hurt to do anything. I could barely blink. The nurse could tell the amount of pain that was inflicted on my body. She gave me a sympathetic, motherly look. She wanted to help, but we both knew she couldn't do much.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

'_Most likely bad.' _The voice said.

"Not bad." I replied, showing the faintest hint of a smile.

She put her hand on my arm and a whirl of pictures went flying through my head. I felt my eyes roll back into my head. I screamed at the intense pain. The pictures seemed random at first but then, as they went on, they came together as if they were a puzzle. It made my head hurt even more. I squirmed all around the bed, trying to make the extra pain stop.

Then it all stopped. My pain returned to being just the original pain.

'_Uh-oh, what did I do?' _There the voice was again! Where was it coming from?

"Get out of the way!" I screeched at the nurse, deciding it was better to ignore it and save her rather than dwell on the unknown. She seemed frightened but did so anyway.

'_Okay…'_

As if on cue, a flash went by me and then there was earsplitting bang in the wall next to me. I jumped even though I knew it was going to happen. A boy who appeared to be around my age wobbled off the wall. He was wearing jeans and a black short-sleeved tee shirt. He had dark black hair and radiant blue eyes.

"Ow! That hurt!" He bellowed. He rubbed the side of his head and then his arm to try to alleviate some of the pain.

'_Why did I do that?' _I was taken aback for a moment. That was a new voice. It wasn't the nurse. I wasn't mystery voice number one. It wasn't the idiot boy. It was a new voice. I looked around the room once more. Was this some kind of trick or just a really odd dream?

"Gee, I can't imagine why." I muttered sarcastically under my breath, answering him and, unintentionally, mystery voice number two. The boy looked at me in confusion. I returned the look.

"EXCUSE ME! BUT CAN I ASK WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!" The nurse hollered at the boy at an earsplitting decibel. As if my head didn't already hurt enough. I just needed everyone to stop being so loud.

'_Stupid little punk!'_

"That was a little harsh." I said responding to the concealed voice, not caring any longer that it was in fact concealed. I figured it was better to confront it than continue to ignore it. I continued with, "I'm sure it was an accident."

"Excuse me?" The nurse turned to me. The boy looked at me as well, both with confused faces. Their confusion was mixed with fear and pity.

"Not you, I was speaking to whoever said 'Stupid little punk.'" I replied matter-of-factly. They must have thought I was crazy.

'_Is she okay?' _Both of the unknown voices asked in unison.

"YO, MARK! WHERE ARE YOU?" A livid voice shrieked from the hall.

"In room number H-8!" The boy I now knew as Mark replied.

There was a flash in the hallway and then another boy stood where the flash ended. The boy who seemed to be Mark's twin sauntered into the already cramped room. He had a green mohawk and even more radiant blue eyes. His face was pierced in various places. He had on jean shorts and a black tee shirt that had a skull on it. He gazed at me from head to toe with thoughtfulness.

'_Hmm, someone new. It's been awhile.'_ Un-freaking-believable. There was _another_ voice in here. I shot up further in the bed and scanned the room for traces of someone else, but I only found the nurse, Mark, and the other boy. What on earth was happening here?

The boy shook his head, as if he was in a daze, and walked toward Mark. "Dude! What the hell was that?" He screamed.

"… What do you mean?" Mark inquired innocently. It was evident, however, that he wasn't innocent and knew exactly what he'd done wrong.

"I DIDN'T MEAN RUN INTO THE WALL LITERALLY! I WAS GIVING AN EXAMPLE!" The boy continued; he then punched Mark in the arm. Mark spiraled to the ground dramatically, his hand brushing my leg as he fell.

I gasped and screamed as the pictures raced through my mind once again, making my head hurt even more, only this time it showed Mark and the other boy's conversation all up to the point where the boy had punched him in the arm. Why would I see any of that? Why would I even _want _to? My eyes finally flew open and everyone stared at me.

'_What's up with her?' _The third voice asked.

'_I don't know, she said something about someone else saying something earlier, but I had no idea what she was talking about.' _The second voice replied like it was having a conversation with the third voice.

"WHO IS SAYING THAT THAT!" I screeched to everyone. It was time for their babbling to end and for my questions to be answered. I was fired up now. I didn't care if they all thought I was crazy. I could hear those voices and they were going to tell me why and how whether they be real or a figment of my imagination. I would get my answers.

'_Just like that.' _The second voice said after a long silence.

'_You don't think….'_ The third voice replied. Oh _hell_ no. They were not going to talk obscurely like this. That sent me into over drive. Now _I _was the livid one.

"What's wrong dear?" The nurse asked.

'_I need to get a doctor in here.' _Ah, the first voice, I hadn't heard it in a while.

My head was going to explode. This was more stress and pain than I could handle. I could not stay in the dark for any longer. "Great idea! Go get a doctor, maybe he or she will know what's wrong with me!" I agreed with the first voice.

"How did you—"She started but then shook her head and said, "—never mind…." The nurse started to leave but then turned to face the twins, "You two, leave." She said sternly. Mark left but the other one stayed.

'_So she has it too?'_ The third voice said. I was hoping that the invisible voices would have gone with the other two, but unfortunately not. "Has what?" I asked crisply, still attempting to get answers. Who even _was_ this guy? Why was here?

"Has some kind of 'power'." The boy answered, "Duncan." He said answering the other question that I hadn't said aloud. He nodded in my direction. "You're the one we've been waiting for."

"What do you—"I started. I thought about what he had just said. "You know, you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition. You should work on that." He chuckled heartily. He almost fell to the floor because he was laughing so hard. I merely stared at him.

He wiped a couple tears from his eyes. "I tell you that you're the one we've been waiting for and you-" he stopped to laugh a bit more, "and you tell me that I'm not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition?" He got caught up in more laughter. I rolled my eyes. "Who says that?" he yelled through waves of chuckles.

"I'm still confused." I stated bluntly. This was going to be long day if _he _was going to the only person who would talk to me.

He chuckled once more before saying, "Right, right. Don't worry, you'll understand soon enough. Now, be a dear and rest that pretty, little head of yours. You look as though you could use some beauty sleep." He winked, thinking he was funny.

"Just explain one thing to me."

"What's that sweet cheeks?" Oh this guy was going to get old really fast.

"The voices. Where the hell are all of these voices?"

He gave me an understanding look. "You can read minds too." _Too?_ "Yes too." I gave him a look and he understood once more. "So can I. Those voices were most likely the inside voices of the nurse, me, and Mark. It's something you'll have to deal with for the rest of your life."

Then it hit me. "Wait a minute… why didn't I have this _thing_ when I was younger?"

"That happens sometimes."

"What?" I asked incredulously. That was ridiculous.

"Whatever happened to you must have awakened your powers. I guess it was your destiny to obtain your powers now rather than earlier." Destiny? What was next? Would I have to worship some god or goddess that they worship? He laughed. "We don't worship and gods or goddesses, cutie pie." I rolled my eyes at his many pet names for me. "Well, I suppose some people have their own beliefs, but for the most part, people here are atheists. It's a complicated belief system that you'll come to understand. You can believe whatever you like, though." My head started to hurt again. This was too much information for me right now. I shook my head signaling him to stop talking.

He laughed at me. "I know, it's a lot. But it seems you have another power too." My eyes went wide. Fabulous. _Another_ 'power' to deal with. I sighed. "You have the ability to see both what will and what has already happened."

"So that's what those pictures were when they touched me…" I muttered to myself.

"Ah, so yours are triggered by touch?"

"There are others?"

"Of course. Just as there are multiples of us mind readers, other people can do that too. But to different extents." He spoke very matter-of-factly.

I thought for a moment, contemplating whether I should ask him more or not. For all I knew, this could all be some sort of hoax he decided to come up with in order to mess with my mind. "Do _you_ have more powers too?" I asked quietly.

He smirked at me. "I have super speed."

'_How original.' _I thought to myself while rolling my eyes.

He scoffed, "It may be unoriginal, but it can really come in handy. I also have mega, ultra, awesome super strength."

"Is that so?" I retorted. I remembered back to when Mark had taken that dramatic fall on account of Duncan punching him in the arm. That would explain things. I thought maybe he was just a pansy or one really into theatrics. Remembering Mark made me remember that brief conversation between him and Duncan. "Can Mark read minds too?"

Duncan gave me a nod of approval since I was beginning to catch onto things. "Only mine. Because we're twins, with have this sort of…" he stumbled over his words, not sure what to say next, "bond." I mouthed 'ah' as a sign of my understanding. I nodded. And then nodded again. I didn't stop nodding, actually. Duncan laughed. "How about no more questions for now, hot lips?" I stopped nodding long enough to glare at him.

After glaring, I thought to myself for a bit. He sat down gently on the bed next to. He was careful not to touch me, for fear that he might set off more of those painful visions. He looked at me gingerly and smiled as though he was looking at an old friend. I avoided his gaze and continued to think. I noticed his fists clench.

"I suppose you haven't been awake long enough to find out about why you're here, eh?" He didn't look at me anymore, but rather the ground. I shook my head in response and he said no more.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke again. "Well I don't-" Duncan was cut off by a rather loud and unnecessary interruption.

"Hello Courtney! I'm Chris! Welcome home!"

**A/N:**** All right, so yeah I changed some things. Hope it's still appealing to you guys. I don't think you can review more than once per chapter right? I don't remember. But I would love input from anyone. Maybe send in an anonymous review. I would really appreciate it. Thanks for reading. **


	2. Headaches

**A/N:**** All right, here goes chapter twoooo! On a roll here! Hope you like! :)**

_Chapter 2_

The sudden intrusion had frightened me like the boogeyman frightens a child. Chris walked next to a floating clipboard and pen. There was a glow around the floating objects. Chris smiled a huge, blinding smile. The whiteness of his teeth _had_ to be fake. It was absurd. I gave him a small wave, allowing him to proceed with whatever spiel he had for me.

"So you're Courtney, eh? Nice to meet you!" He flashed his dazzling smile. "Yes it is a rather dazzling smile, isn't it?" I glared at his apparent ability to read minds. It was starting to seem like everyone had this ability. "So do you remember what happened to you before you ended up here?" He inquired.

I shook my head. I saw Duncan's face grow grim. What did he know that I didn't? He looked at me. _'Nothing.'_ I heard from his head. I nodded briefly to acknowledge his thought.

My attention was brought back to Chris as he hummed to himself. "So you can read minds too? Very interesting." He mumbled to himself in what sounded like a foreign language. He pointed to the pen and it began to write something down. "Telekinesis." He smiled at me. "Jealous? Many are." He had a certain smugness that didn't set well with me. Something about this guy made me want to punch him in his perfect little face.

I heard Duncan chuckle at my thoughts. Chris, however, did not think it was funny.

"So, Courtney." He glanced at the clipboard. "It would seem your family has died. Blah blah blah, yes it's very sad. You were in some sort of accident I guess. Doesn't really matter. Blah blah blah." He continued to flip through the charts as though what he was reading wasn't interesting enough for him.

Did he say… died? I tuned out his blabbering and made sure I'd heard him properly. I replayed what he said multiple times in my head. I felt a hand on top of my clenched up fist. I looked up to see a mournful Duncan. He acted as though he knew my family. I had not expected him to be even remotely emotional about it.

"You are such a bastard." Duncan muttered. "How can you tell her something like that with that kind of tone? Like her family doesn't matter. How do you expect her to be able to just pick up her life and move on like that?" He was getting extremely angry.

"Duncan," I stared down at myself. "It's fine. It doesn't matter." I could feel his eyes boring holes into my head. He must have thought I was an idiot. But I didn't have time to mourn. At least not right now. Right now I needed to focus on figuring things out. I would have to mourn on my own time.

"Yeah Duncan. It's _fine_." Chris said happily. "Anyway, ready to start your classes? Surely you're feeling well enough by now. You've been laying here for like a week now, I would think you would be ready." I didn't understand how he could be so uncaring of my feelings.

I pursed my lips. "What classes are you talking about?"

"Oh, I guess I just assumed Chatty McChatBox here would have already told you everything." He shot a look at Duncan. Duncan scowled. "This isn't really a hospital. It's a school. This is the infirmary of the school. It's sort of like boarding school." He paused for a moment. "Well," he chuckled lightly, "you'll understand with time." I obviously looked confused because he continued with, "I'm sure Duncan will show you around. Let's just see how things are going with you." He stabbed a finger at my shoulder and it happened again. The pictures rushed through my head. It hurt so badly that I screamed even louder this time. Once I stopped Chris said, "Whoa, chill brah. If you're in that much pain, you can start tomorrow."

"What did you see?" Duncan asked agitatedly.

"See?" Chris asked.

I wasn't sure what I had actually seen. I did know, however, that I didn't like it. "Just Chris," I struggled to find the right words, "and his whole entire past." If I understood the vision correctly, he'd lived for hundreds of years. I couldn't fathom that I was correct though.

Duncan was concerned but said quietly, "Okay," He wasn't sure what to make of my words. I wasn't sure what to make of anything. I did my best to keep that out of my thoughts because I didn't think Duncan needed to know about it yet.

"What are you talking about?" Chris questioned.

"Courtney has these visions that are only triggered when she touches something or someone important." Duncan informed him. Chris looked nervous, but for some reason… I couldn't read his thoughts anymore. It was like I was blocked out of his mind.

"Well are you okay or not?" Chris said quickly.

"I think I'm ready."

"Sweetness! Later brah." He started to leave but then stopped, "Oh and Duncan?" Duncan peered up at him, clearly still not pleased with his behavior, "I was serious about the whole showing her around thing." He winked and walked off.

I looked at Duncan and tried not to think about Chris. "Well let's go." I said, attempting to sound pleased.

"Alrighty then." Duncan said helping me up.

It was then that we both noticed that only thing I was wearing was a hospital gown. I blushed made sure I was completely covered. Duncan smirked, '_Is that the only thing you've got on right now?'_ I glared at him, '_Just help me find some clothes.'_

"Fine, come on." He gave me a playful glare and took me over to a clipboard that was attached to the wall.

It read:

_Courtney: Room # R-8 Note: Hope you like it!_

Duncan chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I asked assuming that I'd missed a joke.

He smiled. "That's right next to my room." He said. I groaned inwardly. Of course. This was going to be a _long_ day. I rolled my eyes.

xXx

We finally reached my room. On the door was a gold plate with the letters COURTNEY ANDERSON engraved in it. Duncan handed me the key and I unlocked the door. I entered with Duncan trailing behind me.

The room appeared to be moderately sized. In the corner was a queen sized bed with a dark blue bed set that resembled the one that I had back home. I saw two bookshelves that contained every single one of my books, my old desk with a new laptop on top of it, a dresser, a humongous closet that enclosed every garment of clothing/accessories that I owned, another door that led to a bathroom, and a glass, sliding door that led to a deck.

"Wow." Was all that managed to escape my mouth. I turned around only to notice that Duncan had already left. "Oh, well." I said shrugging. I sauntered over to my closet to find something to wear. I sighed; my clothes reminded me so much of my old life. They brought an air of nostalgia that fresh baked cookies do to an adult. Ignoring my nostalgia, I finally snatched a pair of jeans and a yellow t-shirt off their now toppling over hangers. I grabbed my black flats and slipped them over my dainty, small feet.

I walked over to door that contained the path to my deck. The deck was made of wood and was a deep brown. There was a small table with two chairs. I felt like I was in a dollhouse.

I slumped back into the room and sat in front of the sleek black laptop. I turned it on and started to personalize everything. I put a picture of the Peach's crown from Mario that said PRINCESS below it as my desktop background because that was my sister's favorite series of games. She loved it so much that it seemed that that was all she played. I ended up just surfing the web looking for something to do, but nothing seemed alluring.

After a few hours I heard a slight knock on my door. "Come in." I mumbled, figuring that if they didn't hear me then that was their problem. The door opened and Duncan and Mark came in. "Can I help you?" I asked with more attitude than was necessary.

"Mark wanted to say something to you." Duncan said as if he were his father.

I shifted my attention to Mark. "Mark?" I questioned. Duncan crossed the room over to my desk. I didn't acknowledge his presence.

"Yeah, umm, I'm, er, sorry about earlier." He said. _'__I can't believe I have to do this.' _He thought to himself. This whole mind reading thing would be a handful to get used to.

I rolled my eyes, "I guess I accept your apology."

'_Geez, it's like she knew I didn't mean it.' _He thought.

"Never mind. I don't accept your apology anymore." I said harshly.

His eyes went wide and he got angry. "Why?" He asked thinking he deserved an acceptance. I simply pointed to my head and he understood. _'__Of course….'_ He thought ruefully.

"No offence, but could you leave?" I stated. He left and didn't look back, no questions asked.

I swiveled back to my laptop and gasped, "Duncan!" I'd completely forgotten that he'd come over here.

He smiled as if he were happy that he'd startled me and said, "My bad."

"You, out."

"That's no way to treat your guest." He said.

"You are not a guest if you let yourself in." I said coldly.

His mood shifted slightly and then went back to cocky. "Fine then. See-ya Princess." He winked and left.

'_Princess?' _I thought.

_'__Look at your computer.'_ He responded.

"I wasn't talking to you!" I shouted, knowing he'd hear me. He laughed in his head and then I heard his door shut. I sighed and looked at my clock. It read, 10:38pm. Well, I guessed it was bedtime. It felt like I'd just gotten in here. I walked into my closet and changed into my silky baby blue pajamas. I flipped off the light, hopped under the covers, and immediately started to drift off to slumber land.

xXx

I awoke the next morning in a daze. I glanced at my clock, which exhibited the time, 5:28am. I got up figuring I should probably arrive early to school so I could find all of my classes. As soon as I walked into my closet I knew exactly what I wanted to wear. My black sweat pants, light blue tank top, and white flip-flops. That was an outfit that I'd never worn before, so they couldn't possibly hold any memories from my past. It was odd, when I thought about it, that I had never worn this outfit. It was such a simple casual outfit. Yet, I'd never worn it.

I took the outfit into the bathroom and leaped into the shower. The shower relaxed me. It allowed me to think about all that had happened in the past 24 hours. And there was _a _lot to think about. I finally got out and dried off, however. I searched the bathroom and found my blow-dryer, flat iron, tooth brush, toothpaste, hairbrush, hair accessories, and some other miscellaneous objects. I decided to wear my hair down and straight. It was naturally fairly straight but I had the flat iron to work out the few kinks.

Once I was finished, I left the bathroom and Chris's voice came over what I guessed was an intercom. "Ahem. Testing, 1, 2, 3. Testing. Good morning everyone! Here's your wake up call for the morning! Breaky in 30 minutes!" That was good. I wouldn't have to wake up so early from now on since there was a wake up call.

A quick knock at my door startled me. "Come in." I called. I made my way to the door to seek out the identity of my guest.

"Hey Princess." Duncan greeted as he walked in. I rolled my eyes. Perfect. This guy again. I forgot he was supposed to be the one showing me around.

"What do you want Duncan?" I paid little attention to him as I made sure I looked at least semi-decent. I wasn't really feeling awesome and was still in major amounts of pain. Looking fabulous was not the number one item on my to-do list.

"I'm supposed to escort you to breakfast." He said with a smirk

"But we have 30 minutes." I cocked my slightly in confusion.

"We'll take the long way. Besides, I can show you around the school before we get there."

"Fine." I caved. I did need to see things. This was an opportunity I would be stupid to pass up.

"Great let's go!" He said grabbing my hand and dragging me along. He was happier than I would have expected. I was glad, though, that I had someone that I _somewhat_ knew to be with. It wasn't as scary that way. But it was still terrifying. I would have to start all over. I wasn't sure I could it. Before I could freak out more, we arrived in the front office.

There was a woman sitting at desk. She had dark hair and stark white skin. Her dark eyes had purple tint to them. She was a tiny woman. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"We need a schedule for Courtney Anderson." Duncan replied. We waited patiently as she searched her desk.

"Here you are." She said whilst handing me the piece of paper. Her hand brushed against mine. I screamed and dropped to my knees as the pictures started again. They were horrible. They depicted everything she'd done and was going to do. I could barely watch as they swerved through my mind, making me look at them all from very angle. They were disturbing. This woman had done evil that went far beyond what the imagination could come up with. I gasped when they finally ended, leaving me with a huge headache.

"Courtney! Are you okay? What did you see?" A troubled Duncan beseeched me. He was holding me upright. I stared at the woman with a horrified expression on my face.

"H-how could you do t-that?" I stuttered still horrified.


	3. Others

_Chapter 3_

The petite receptionist stared at me in absolute horror. And I returned the same expression to her, though for a different reason. Duncan was shouting in my ear but I hadn't yet come back enough from the vision to really hear him. I just stared at the woman. Meanwhile, Duncan's voice was reaching me like someone was turning the volume up slowly. "Do what! What's wrong?" He shouted. I ignored him and kept my eyes locked on the horrible woman that stood in front of me.

"YOU MONSTER!" I screamed. I'd finally been able to speak. "Preying on innocent children like that!" Duncan looked at the woman as if he finally understood what I was talking about. He could read my thoughts. He understood completely now.

The woman had regained her composure and stated serenely, "I don't know what you're talking about." She blinked, expecting us to get over it move on about our business.

"Don't lie! I saw it all!" I screamed through tears. My emotions were taking over. I knew I needed to regain my composure as well but I couldn't. Not after what'd I just seen. It was like when I had the vision of Chris. I didn't know what to make of the vision, really. The only thing I knew was that I was terrified, possibly scarred for life, and tired of these awful visions. I was crying so much that I couldn't see my own hand in front of me.

I'd forgotten about Duncan's existence until he spoke again. "Come on Courtney. Let's get out of here." he spoke softly. I didn't move. I felt a pair of strong arms pick me up.

"Put me down!" I yelled. I wasn't sure why. Damn, I wasn't sure about a lot of things lately. I just didn't want to move. I wanted to talk to this woman. I wanted to see what was wrong with her. But I was being ushered off.

"Chill babe." Duncan said putting me down.

"I could feel, hear, see, smell, and even taste everything she did." I said through my waterworks. Duncan held me close as I buried my face into his chest. "S-she… murdered those innocent children! And in horrible ways that aren't even imaginable!" There more than that that I wasn't telling him. Like the fact that I saw more than one person doing the killing, but I couldn't make out their characteristics. So I kept that to myself and did my best to hide it.

"Shh." Duncan soothed, obviously not wanting to create attention from teachers in the classrooms that surrounded us. "Let's go get breakfast." He suggested. I nodded. By the time we'd reached the cafeteria, my eyes weren't puffy and red anymore from crying… at least that's what Duncan told me. But he wouldn't lie to me…Would he?

"No." He whispered with a smirk. I blushed at the fact that I was no longer alone in my thoughts. His smirk seemed to his signature. It was an annoying expression. It exuded his cockiness and self-satisfaction. It irritated me to no end and I had no doubt that those feeling of hatred for it would only increase.

I looked out into the vast pool of kids around my age, give or take some years. Duncan led me through the line for food and then to a table that was way in the back of the room.

On the way there I faced with thoughts like:

_'__Who the hell is she?'_

_'__Look at the prep, I bet she's a total bitch.'_

'_Ugh… someone else I have to prove myself to.'_

Then there was one that only came from one person; _'__That little snot nose brat had better not make a move on Duncan or I swear to God that I will rip her limb from limb.'_ I saw Duncan scowl at that one. I wasn't sure who the owner of the thought was, though I didn't really want to. I did my best to forget about it and continued on. Once we finally got to the table my head cleared a little from the nasty thoughts. Most people just went back to their gossip and conversations.

"Hey Duncan! What's up dude?" One of the guys greeted with way too much glee. "Who's the babe?" He flashed a smile in my direction. I hadn't been aware that I would be meeting surfer dudes today.

"Sup Geoff." Duncan said, "This is Courtney." I waved at them. "Courtney this is Bridgette, Geoff, DJ, Trent, and Gwen." Bridgette was a surfer chick. She had long blonde hair that she kept pulled back into a ponytail. She was clothed in a blue hoodie and jean shorts. Geoff, who I later found out was Bridgette's boyfriend, was the exuberant, party type. He too had blonde hair only he kept it hidden under a cowboy hat. He was wearing a light pink, unbuttoned shirt and shorts. A surfer couple was… odd to see, to say the least.

Next to him was DJ. I assumed he was one of those "girly-boys" since he was petting a bunny - which he'd named Bunny - and all he talked about was Bunny. Although you wouldn't assume that was his personality because of his figure. He was huge! He had on a dark green tee shirt with a "D" on it and shorts. His shirt was tight and showed off his muscles nicely. He was _too_ big, though.

Trent was seated next to him. Trent was the type who would be the "star of the school", I guess you could say. He was good-looking, smart, and he was a musician. Maybe that's why he was going out with Gwen. Anyways, he had on a green shirt with a hand print on it and black pants. His girlfriend Gwen was next to him. She was a goth girl. She had dark blue streaks in her short black hair. She had a black shirt with blue and green patches and a black skirt with blue patches.

I sat down next to Bridgette and Duncan sat down next to me, leaving one last empty seat at the table. "Hey Courtney, I'm Bridgette." She said giving an unnecessary introduction.

"Hi." I said in a friendly tone. We exchanged smiles.

"So, what's your power?" Geoff asked quickly.

That question earned him a light slap to the face. "Geoff!" Bridgette chastised as it was clear that she was appalled.

"What?" He asked as though it wasn't just a bit rude.

"It's fine." I reassured her, "Umm, I can read minds and I can get visions… but only if I touch someone or something important." I looked at Duncan to make sure I'd gotten it all down correctly. He nodded in approval. I wasn't one who usually doubted myself but in this situation, things were bound to change.

"SWEET! I can control people's mind… but it still needs some work." _'__Control, control.'_ Geoff thought, obviously trying to control my mind. Duncan, Gwen and I all burst into laughter at that. I wasn't not sure why Gwen laughed; I'd assumed that meant that she too could read minds.

"I can control plants and animals." Bridgette said in her best do-gooder voice possible. And that started a chain reaction of everyone sharing their powers. It was weird that they would talk about it so openly. I'd read fictional books before where a person has some supernatural power and it was always instinctive of them to hide their power from the world.

"I can fly and I can freeze things. Like if I throw my arms up then the object or person will freeze in place." DJ said while petting his bunny.

"I'm a fire starter." Trent said, "Yeah, I scared the hell out of my parents when I first found out."

"I can read minds and blow things up with my mind." Gwen said with little emotion. I was getting a little tired of this mind reading thing. What good was it if many had the ability?

_'There really aren't that many__.'_ Duncan thought, throwing me off a little.

_'__It may seem like it, but really hardly anyone can.'_ Gwen added.

The table eventually took off in individual conversations giving me a chance to relax. I looked around the cafeteria and saw a pair of malicious brown eyes glaring at me. I turned away from them in hopes that the image they left stained in my memory bank would go away. I turned back just because, and they were gone. I saw a flash of light and then a girl with prune colored hair the malicious brown eyes, was standing next to me.

"Hey Duncy," She said seductively, "who's your friend?" I averted my eyes. This was the girl who'd thought that nasty comment earlier. I could tell by the way she talked. She was obviously not one I should get involved with.

"Don't call me that," Duncan said through his teeth, "and this is Courtney."

'_That's Heather. Duncan's psycho, bitch ex-girlfriend. __' _Gwen thought, dourly.

"Hi, Courtney! I'm Heather!" She said with way to much perkiness. I gave a mild smile in return. "It's so nice to-"She started.

"You can drop the act Heather. We're just going to tell her about you later." Gwen cut in. Oh awesome, there was more I had to know about her.

'_Weird goth girl thinks she can stand in the way of my plan to ruin this chick? I don't think so!'_ Heather thought. Both girls glared at each other until Heather left without another word. I had to admit, I was a little scared of Heather. But I wouldn't let her get to me. I was a strong girl. And she wasn't that pretty anyway.

Gwen laughed quietly at my petty thought. I laughed with her. There was an awkward silence at the table afterwards until Duncan said, "Well, we, um, better go find your classes." I nodded in agreement.

"It was really nice to meet you all." I said to everyone at our table. They gave me goodbyes and went about our their business. And with that Duncan and I left. But then it occurred to me… where was Mark? Why wasn't he here? Shouldn't he be with his brother? Something was wrong with that and I was going to find out what.


	4. Threats

**A/N:**** Don't own... you know the drill. Just read.**

"So, do you like it here so far, Princess?" Duncan asked, obviously just trying to make small talk. I couldn't help but smile slightly at that. It was a weird question and not one I was sure I could answer just yet. It was all so overwhelming.

"Yeah, it's not bad. And my name's Courtney." I knew he wouldn't stop calling me that, but it wouldn't hurt to try. I admired the walls as we walked through the halls. They were adorned with regal pictures that looked like they belonged in a castle. I felt wrong in being in such a beautiful, ornate place. I felt as though I didn't belong there. It was too high-class for me. But at least my eyes had something to watch in awe.

"Yeah, sure whatever… _Princess._" Duncan said, freeing me of the captivating beauty of the walls. I rolled my eyes as we continued walking. I heard a loud _BRIIIIIIIING!_ "Well, that was the bell. Umm, here's our first class. History." Duncan said. Duncan had told me earlier that they had the same classes here as they do at a normal school; only electives were classes for expanding your powers. And to make my life that much more spectacular, I had many classes with Duncan what with us both being able to read minds and being at the same level in many things. I had not expected him to be as smart as he was. The piercings, mohawk, and attitude threw me off. I took him for the regular, do nothing, don't care punk. Well, he _didn't_ care about school, it was more of natural smarts. He caught to concepts quickly and saw school the farthest thing from a challenge.

I peered at the door to our history class. There was a tile that read C-6 on it. I checked my schedule to be sure that Duncan was not mistaken and that this was indeed our class. My schedule is was follows:

History C-6

English C-18

Mathematics C-36

Science C-24

Lunch/Free Period

Mind-Reading E-2

Special Powers Class E-64

Gym R-7

I gave scrunched my face up at the sight of Gym class. While yes, I was very good at sports, it was not something I enjoyed much. Unless of course I winning. But, I always win. I guess you could say I just get tired of not having much of challenge. I wonder if that was how Duncan felt about school.

Duncan's schedule was practically the same as mine only 7th period he had a class for his powers.

We sauntered into the classroom and I made my way over to the teacher with Duncan trailing lazily behind me. "Umm, hi. My name is Courtney Anderson. I'm new." I introduced myself to my history teacher.

"Hello, Courtney. I'm Mr. Walls." Duncan had told me about him beforehand and what he said was not wrong. He was an older man with grey hair and a strong odor of coffee emitting from his body. He wore slacks and tucked in button up shirt. He seemed friendly; Duncan had told me he was his favorite teacher so that had to be a plus.

"Why don't you go and sit next to Duncan." He suggested. I nodded and smiled.

I looked about the room and saw that Duncan had already taken his seat. He looked as though he were about ready to doze off. I walked to the back of the room; many eyes were locked on me. Some of them glaring, some of them feeling sorry for me, and some of them were looking at me just because I was someone new to look at.

Mr. Walls droned on about the making of the constitution. I tuned him out though because I'd learned about it all in the 7th grade. At my old school I'd been one of the highest ranked students in the whole school district. After about 30 minutes of staring at the blank white walls of the undecorated classroom, I heard a quiet snoring next to me. I looked over at Duncan and saw him zonked out on the desk. A small pile of drool collected at the corner of his slightly open mouth. His mohawk was ruffled in his arms where he'd placed his head.

"Well, the bell's going to ring soon so pack up. Ahem, Duncan!" Mr. Walls shouted.

"Yes," Duncan said flustered, thinking he was being asked a question, "unless the answer's no…." He flashed a smile Mr. Walls' way and got a sigh in return.

"Actually Duncan, I believe it's time for you to go sleep in English class."

"Oh, I only sleep in here and Science." Duncan stated. He seemed proud of himself for that.

"How fortunate for me." Mr. Walls rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I could cause trouble in here too if you want me to." Duncan pointed out. Mr. Walls gave him an approving look and laughed. It was odd how lightly he took Duncan's behavior. I assumed it was because of his grades.

Once again I heard the loud _BRRRIIIIINNNNG!_

"Too late Duncan. Now get out."

"Well, that was rude."

Duncan got up and walked out, as I followed I thought to him, '_What was that all about?'_

'_What do you mean?'_ Duncan looked at me. He seemed impressed with my semi-comfort with talking to each other through our minds. I thought I should get used to it. It was kind of fun anyway. I smiled to myself slightly.

'_You just had to be rude like that?'_

'_Actually, he was being rude.'_ I laughed out loud, as did Duncan. It felt good to laugh heartily. I hadn't done so in quite a while. Duncan's laugh only encouraged mine. It was very contagious. He had a different air about him when he laughed like this. His smile shone brightly on his face, which only widened my smile and induced more laughter on my part.

We reached the English room where I introduced myself to Mrs. Meyer. She told me to go and sit next to Bridgette and Gwen. Duncan was on the other side of the room. He winked at me and put on a fake sad face in reference to the space between us. I gave my signature eye roll and turned my attention to Mrs. Meyer. Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun, with only a few strands falling loose. Her make up was clean cut. She didn't wear much, but enough to accentuate her features. She dressed like a lawyer. It reminded me of my mother and father, both of whom were lawyers. I quickly threw the thought of them away, though. This was no time to be emotional.

"Well class today we're going to have a discussion on '_Romeo and Juliet'_. Except for you Courtney. I assume you all read your chapters for homework last night, correct?"

No one in the class responded. Great, a silent class. Well, that meant I could shine. "Actually, I've read it multiple times." I said. Her eyes lit up at my response. It was like no one in here ever talked back to her. I answered what she had prayed for for so long. I ignored the many eyes that bore holes into me.

"I didn't read it." Duncan yelled out. The class filled with laughter. He was apparently the 'class clown' in here. I suppose every class needed one, right? Though they usually got annoting.

The rest of my day was filled with Duncan either being asleep, a perve, or just a nuisance. When he was awake, he threw paper airplanes at me, carved into the desk, and talked back to the teachers. When he was asleep, he would snore annoyingly and sometimes even talk – which I'm not going to lie was kind of cute.

I was relived after gym because I finally got to return to my living quarters. But soon after, I noticed that I was missing some of my stuff. My iPod, for example, was no where to be found.I was frustrated with the missing objects. I'd already given up on finding my missing books, notebooks, and clothes by the time I noticed my iPod was missing. I walked into my large closet and looked everywhere. I practically tore the place apart. And then I saw it. The shiny metal of the back of my iPod Touch.

"FINALLY!" I screamed. I grabbed it and hugged it like I used to hug my little sister and brother. My joyous reunion with object was cut short by a thumping noise. I walked to my door slowly and heard thumping noise get louder. As I left the room I recognized it to be music. It sounded like… _'The Nameless'_ by Slipknot. I only knew that because it was my brother's favorite song by that band. He played it so often that I knew practically all of the words to it. I was actually good, too.

I traced the noise to Duncan's room. Of course. I scowled at my neighbor's door. He _had _to be doing this just to anger me. I knocked on his door. The music came to a sudden stop and the door swung open.

"What!" an angered Duncan glared out the door. His mood lightened at the sight of me. Oh, Princess, how can I help you?" He asked seductively. He waggled his eyebrows and winked. I fought hard to keep myself from yelling at him.

"Would you kind turning down the music Duncan?" I asked harshly.

"Yes, I would mind. But for you? I'd do anything." Rolling my eyes, I walked back into my room and just when I shut the door his music blared.

"UGH!" I screamed. I stomped over to my iPod and dock. If he wanted a war, he was going to get one. I put my iPod on its dock and my room exploded with the techno beat of '_Sexyback'_ by Justin Timberlake. There was no way that Duncan liked this song… too bad that I did. I smirked like I was Duncan when I heard a knock on my door. I turned off the music and walked to the door.

"Hello?" I answered. I put on my innocent face. "Oh hi Duncan." I smiled at him. He almost faltered but his pissed off look prevailed.

"Would you mind turning down your music?" He asked with attitude.

"Anything for you." I replied and slammed the door in his face.

"OH, SO THAT'S HOW YOU WANT TO PLAY? FINE BY ME, PRINCESS!" He shouted through the door. I blasted the music once again, only this time it was one of my favorite songs of all time, '_My Heart Will Go On' _by Celine Dion. Cheesy? Yes. A fabulous work of art? Double yes. Only it was soon drowned out by, '_Have A Nice Day' _by Bon Jovi. I loved Bon Jovi but he wasn't going to win this. So I pulled out my stereo from the closet. I popped in a CD and suddenly the air was filled with, '_Ice Ice Baby'_ By Vanilla Ice. I heard his music shut off and then there was a knock at the door.

"Hello?" I answered pleasantly after turning my music off.

"You win. Just never play that song again." He said with a serious look.

"Aww, did I play a song that Duncan doesn't like?" He glared and then left. I laughed as hard as I had before. I never thought I would get into something like that, but I had to admit, it was so much fun.

I walked back into my closet just to see what else I could find. I walked through the mess of clothes and shoes and saw a beige book poking out of a couple of shirts. I picked it up and automatically knew what it was, my photo album. I ran out of the closet, jumped on my bed, and pushed it open. To say I was excited would be an understatement.

My excitement instantly turned to awful nostalgia as my eyes filled tears as I looked at my family and friends. My younger brother, younger sister, older sister, best friends, and old boyfriend. My boyfriend, Adam, was a top student like me. We were programmed for each other. Or at least that's what my best friend, Lucy, used to say. We had such good times together. My head filled with the memories from old life. It was too much for me to take and eventually I just collapsed, tears streaming down my face, photo album in my arms.

Would I ever see those people again? If I did, what would I say? It was beginning to seem highly illogical that I would ever see them again. The thought of that saddened me more. But now I had this new life. I had these new potential friends. As for boyfriend… maybe I just wouldn't date while attending classes here. Replacing Adam just seemed hard. But replacing my friends seemed hard too. And then my family.

My thoughts ran rampant. I began to get overwhelmed. I got myself to get up and walk out to my deck. I figured all that I needed was some fresh air. I sat down in the lounge chair and noticed that to my right, the lights on the deck were on. I looked over and saw Heather staring out at the sunset. She noticed me and glared at me. I sat, staring at her with a frightened expression.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't little old Courtney." She said.

"C-can I help you?" I stuttered. Great, Courtney. Stutter. Now she _knows_ you're afraid of her.

"Aww, have you been crying?" She asked insincerely, "You know, I really can't have you moving so close to Duncan. It's our destiny to be together. Our families have been ruling side by side for ages. And somehow, yours keeps getting the way."

Families? Getting in the way? What was she talking about? Tears started trickling down face. Why was I crying so much? I never cry!

"What do you want Heather?" I asked.

"I want you dead!" She shouted coldly.

Instantly my throat started closing as she brought her hand up and started squeezing the air. It was if she was choking me, but without touching me. I felt the air flow become thinner and thinner. My throat was heating up almost to the point of truly burning me. I couldn't scream. I could only fall to my knees in agony, trying to breathe.

"Hey everybody! Time for dinner!" Chris hollered over the speaker. Heather dropped me, startled by Chris's loud voice. She glared at me as I scrambled to my feet.

_'__Next time you won't be so lucky! You little wench!' _She thought angrily.

I ran inside of my room panting. I could feel pain around my neck still as if she was still squeezing ever so softly. And sure enough, a red hand print was left around my neck.

I don't know how she did that, but I sure as hell wouldn't be telling anyone about it.

**A/N: ****Anybody watch Adult Swim? Because "I C U and U C I. I C U and U C I. China Illinois, China Illinois. China Illinois, China Illinois" is stuck in my head, haha. Just in case you were wondering. Review!**


	5. Troubles

**A/N:**** Chappy five lads and lassies. I own nada tostada, except for the story.**

The sound of a small knock at my door invaded my ear.

"Courtney? Are you in there? It's Bridgette and Gwen. Are you coming to dinner?" The dainty and kind voice let me know that it was Bridgette talking. I focused my attention on my reflection. The hand print scared me. I brushed my hair so it would cover most of it up.

"Umm, yeah. I'll be out there in a sec."

"Okay." She replied.

I searched quickly for a scarf or something that would cover the print but found nothing. I would just have to rely on my hair to conceal the dark flaw. I pulled myself together, gave myself a pep talk, and walked out the door only to be stopped by Gwen and Bridgette.

"Are you okay?" Gwen questioned, knowing that something was wrong.

"I'm fine. Look, can we just go please?" I rushed. Gwen's questioning eyes flickered to Bridgette's worried eyes.

"Let's go." Bridgette said reluctantly.

Our small table already held Duncan and Geoff once we got there. They were having some inane conversation about which prank they should pull on which teacher or student. Their food was left untouched. Apparently their discussion was _that_ important. It was then that I remembered the MIA Mark. No one else had mentioned anything so I was plausible that this was a normal occurrence. Perhaps, he had different friends?

Gwen and Bridgette each had a tray full of food, whereas I had no tray. My recent squabble had completely banished any appetite that I might have had at one point in time.

"No tray?" Duncan asked without looking up from the Geoff's gleeful face.

"I'm not hungry." I replied. Not much conversation took place at the table so my deep black eyes ambled around the lunch room.

'_That bitch had better not even think of looking over here.'_ That was obviously Heather. I returned my eyes to the table and stared at the dark wood. There was no way I was going to look over there after what happened. The only problem was that I knew that Duncan and Gwen both heard what Heather had just thought.

Duncan looked as though his locked jaw and deep scowl were permanent features.

"What exactly happened before we came to get you?" Gwen asked.

Oh great. More questions. I looked around quickly for and out. "W-where are DJ, Trent, and Mark?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Answer the question, Courtney." Duncan said harshly.

I sighed and said, "I don't really want to talk about it." I couldn't help it after that; the events from our encounter flooded my mind. This meant that Duncan and Gwen both just saw what happened. "Dammit," I grumbled to myself. Once again this mind reading thing sucked. Both of their eyes went wide.

"W-what did she do?" Gwen asked Duncan.

"I think that was her power. I'm not entirely sure what all it does. But I do know that she can do much more than that." Duncan replied. I stared back at the table out of both embarrassment and fear.

"Dudes and dudettes, where _are_ DJ, Trent, and Mark?" Geoff cut in. This caught all of us off guard. Of course this was all that he was concerned about.

"Actually, now that you mention it… I haven't seen Trent at all today… or DJ…." Gwen whispered.

"What about Mark?" Geoff questioned Duncan.

"Hasn't been here since the last time he talked to Courtney." He replied indifferently. The table went silent. I felt a dainty tap on my shoulder. I hardly looked over to see who it was.

"Excuse me, but are you Carina Anders?" A high-pitched, slightly nasally voice asked me. I turned my head this time, only to see a tall, blonde, and busty girl.

"Courtney Anderson." I corrected. The girl seemed not to understand what I meant by that. "But yes, why?" I replied.

"That's what I said, Carina. Anyways, I was wondering if maybe you would like to come and sit with me and my friends." She asked, "By the way, I'm Lindsay."

'_Don't go. She's one of Heather's bitch clones.'_ Gwen thought to me. I sent a silent thank you to her.

"Umm, no thanks," I replied simply.

"Okay!" She said as if I hadn't just let her down.

'_She _would_ screw_ _this up.' _I was getting a little tired of having Heather in my thoughts but I still failed to look over and acknowledge that little thought of hers. I was so sick of Heather… and I had just gotten here.

Not interested in anything else I said, "I think I'm going to head out."

"Me too," Duncan said. He stared at nothing as he said it. His mind was blank. And his eyes were blank. Everyone said goodbye and we walked away. We sauntered through the sea of students and finally reached the hallway.

"So…." I started. I shuffled back and forth, trying to think of what to say.

"What's up?" He finished.

"Nothing really. You?"

"Eh, same old, same old."

"Did you read your chapters of _'Romeo and Juliet_'?" I asked. He gave me look that told me that that was a stupid question. Hell, I was just trying to make conversation, though. "Right," I answered.

We were in front of our rooms now. I turned to go inside but Duncan pulled on my wrist.

"Whoa, hold on Princess." I didn't say anything. I merely looked into his deep blue eyes. They seemed to go on forever. I finally understood why people said the eyes are the windows to the soul.

"You can't leave just yet." He said holding me captive against a wall.

"Duncan let me go." I said without much emotion.

He swooped his head in and our lips met. Remember what I said about replacing Adam earlier? Yeah, well, this kiss made me think that it wouldn't be so hard to do that. He released our mouths with a smirk. I smiled in a way I'd never smiled before. It was like a new Courtney had just been unleashed. And then I threw my arms up around his neck and basically… we started making out in the hallway. Damn, that boy was a good kisser. Things were so passionate between us. We had been through so much in the short amount that we'd known each other. It seemed that because of that, whatever was happening between the two of us spurred faster than it may have if we were normal kids.

I heard a quiet snicker behind Duncan. We both stopped and turned around. There against the wall stood a pale boy in his classic jeans and tee shirt, his blue eyes filled with amusement as he watched the red flood to our faces. Mine out of embarrassment, Duncan's out of anger.

"I knew you two had the hots for each other." Mark stated.

"Way to show up at exactly the wrong time." Duncan said.

Still flustered, I said, "Umm, I'll see you later Duncan. Mark."

"Courtney," Mark said.

"Night Princess," Duncan said.

I walked into my room and collapsed onto my bed with a huge smile on my face. I could not believe that just happened. I couldn't believe it was making me so happy! I never would have thought that I liked Duncan. I thought about that for a moment.

"I like Duncan," I whispered to myself. I smiled once again.

I changed into my pajamas and went to sleep. This was the best night here so far… except for the Heather thing. But if something bad had to happen for Duncan to kiss me like that, then I hoped something bad happens every night.

xXx

I awoke to the sound of a trumpet being played to the song that you would at military school.

"Ugh," I groaned.

"Wake up everybody! It's Tuesday and you have school!" Chris said in an over enthusiastic voice.

I heaved myself out of bed and went through my normal bathroom routine. I selected a dark green tank top that was a babydoll style and jean shorts. I pulled a white button up tee shirt on over it. I made sure my sleeves were rolled up evenly and kept my shirt unbuttoned. I brushed through my soft hair. The mark left by Heather was almost unnoticeable. The shadow created by my hair covered it well.

I walked out into the already crammed hallway and shoved my way through to the cafeteria. I piled food onto my tray, considering the fact that I hadn't eaten dinner, and made my way to the table. I only noticed one person at the table… Mark. Fabulous. I sat down, gave him an angry smile, and started eating.

"So, did Duncan sneak out to 'talk' to you?" He asked, use quotations with his fingers.

"All right, that's it. If you so much as mention what you saw once, I will personally make sure that life is ruined." I threatened.

"Oh, don't worry. The moment I first met you, you ruined my life." He smirked. What on earth was that supposed to mean? His smirk was the same as Duncan's but it didn't belong on his face. It belonged to Duncan and it only made me angrier to see that on his face.

"You know what, I'm not hungry anymore." I said. I rose out of my seat grabbed my tray and shoved it in his face. "Hope you like your eggs scrambled." I said as I walked away. I saw Gwen and Bridgette walking toward the table and laughing at the scene that they must have just observed. I smiled at them and smiled back, both giving me a thumbs up. My stomach grumbled. I was going to have to go hungry today.

I walked into my history, noticing that there were a couple of other kids in there. It was a bit early so they must have been studying for something.

"Hi Courtney. Please take your seat while we wait for the rest of the class." Mr. Walls said giving me a huge whiff of coffee.

"Okay." I replied. I took my seat and boy with longer brown hair and a red sweater vest came and perched on my desk.

"So you're Courtney Anderson? I'm Noah Black."

"Yes I am. And hi. Umm, can I help you?" I said. I hadn't noticed him around before.

"Oh, I just wanted to welcome you to the school. If you ever need like a tutor or something, I'm here." He said, flashing a smile that seemed foreign on his face.

"Thanks, but I think I'll be fine." He shrugged his shoulders and walked off. He was an odd looking character. His hair was longer than it seemed he would like. He came off as a studious student. Obviously, he was one who took pride in his skills.

Most of the class had finally showed up by the time the bell rang. Duncan, however, sprinted in at the same time as the bell rang.

"I'm not late!" He shouted. Mr. Walls rolled his eyes and started class. Duncan walked over to his seat next to me with a proud look on his face.

I ended up not learning anything that day. I have absolutely no idea what we learned. Instead, I was having a conversation with Duncan in my head.

'_So, you loved last night didn't you?' _I kept my head facing the front of the room, in hopes of not attracting attention to our silent conversation. I fought the urge to slap Duncan across the face for that comment.

_'__In your dreams.'_ I rolled my eyes at the smirk on his face, as he knew he would win this battle.

'_If I recall correctly, you attacked me after I gave you one kiss. And now that you mention it, you were in my dreams, Princess. Always are. Just can't seem to stop thinking about that sexy little body of yours.'_

'_That is a flat out lie.'_

'_Oh yeah__?'_

'_Yeah.'_ I attempted to ignore him and focus on our lesson but his thoughts triumphed. They seemed louder than normal. I wondered if that was something he could control.

'_Just say you liked it - __hey butt out!'_ I noticed others eavesdropping on our conversation and started blushing.

'_Aww, is Princess embarrassed?'_

'_Shut it!'_ He chuckled.

'_Is something funny Duncan?' _We both turned our heads and he started cracking up at the fact that Mr. Walls was listening to our conversation.

"You guys can guarantee that over half of this class both heard and saw what you two did." Mr. Walls said, "Detention, both of you."

"Thanks a lot Duncan." I muttered. He simply continued laughing. I had _never_ gotten detention. A mark on my record scared the hell out of me. I was furious with him. "I never get into trouble!" I whispered loudly.

"Well get used to it Princess, because that's what happens when you date a delinquent."

"We are not dating!"

"Shall we make it two detentions?" Mr. Walls interrupted.

"No, it's okay. We were just finished." I replied.

The rest of my day went by slowly. And apparently, with the many students being able to read minds, our little encounter was spread around the school. People laughed, stared, and even started even worse rumors.

I walked back into my History classroom at the end of the school day for stupid detention. Duncan was already in there once I'd arrived. A middle aged, over-weight woman told me take a seat and be quiet because she was going to sleep. I sat next to Duncan and smirked at my seat choice.

"What's up?" I didn't answer.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"Of course I'm mad you! I've never gotten in trouble, let alone detention!"

"Shh! You'll wake up Ms. Bitch." He said referring to the woman who was sleeping. I rolled my eyes and yawned. I was so tired after all of the taunting I'd gotten today. I leaned on Duncan without thinking and he pulled his arm around me. My eyes slowly began to close against my will. There was a tap on my shoulder that jolted me awake and then the pictures started again.

Worse than ever, I started screaming and rocking in my dreams. I gasped once they ended.

"Courtney? What did you see?" Duncan was in the same panic he was the last time it happened. I wondered how scary it was to watch me go through that. I noticed Geoff standing there also. That would explain my premonition.

"I saw y-you d-die h-here." I stuttered, pointing my shaky finger at Geoff.

**A/N:**** Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeview!**


	6. Pieces

**A/N:**** Alrighty, disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer. READ!**

"Whoa, dudette… you're just joshing me right?" Geoff asked. He looked sad, which I did not like. I didn't look right. His face was made to be smiling. I shook my head.

"Ahem! You three, shut up! I'm trying to sleep!" The woman shouted.

"Duncan I need your help; I need you to come with me!" I grabbed his hand dragged him all the way to my room. I needed to know what he knew. I couldn't let what I saw happen to Geoff happen. If Duncan knew enough, we could save him. The thought of a broken hearted Bridgette made me want to cry. She was such a sweet girl. I had to save Geoff.

When we'd reached my room I fumbled around in my pockets for the key. "Where is it, where is it, where is it," I muttered to myself. My pocket was empty. Duncan grabbed my arm.

"You left it on the table," he said, unlocking my door. I didn't have anything to say. When he opened it I shoved him in and locked the door behind us. "Look, Princess," he started with a smirk.

"Not now Duncan, this important." He sat down on my bed.

"Courtney, what's going on? What else did you see?"

I sighed. This had to work. "Heather said that you and her are destined to be together and that was the way it had always been. She said something about your ruling families and how mine had always gotten in the way. What does that mean? What is she talking about? My family is dead and no one in my family is even related to this sort of thing." I was talking quickly but he was able to keep up. He patted the spot next to him and I sat down.

"Look," he stopped. "Your family is," he sighed. "I really didn't want to be the one to you these things. It's only going to hurt you more. Are you sure you want to know?" I wasn't sure after that if I did. But I had to. This wasn't about me. I nodded.

"Okay," he thought for a moment. "Yes, your family is dead. They weren't your _real_ family though. They adopted you. But with the magic here it was easy to make it seem like they were your real family."

"They… adopted me…?" I didn't understand. I've seen pictures and heard stories. Of course they were my real family.

Duncan was reading my mind. "I can understand how you would think that, but they weren't. Your birth mother died in some freak accident. And your dad has been MIA since they gave you up." He stopped, allowing me some time to take things in. I reached over and grabbed a pillow to hug. Duncan continued. "Your family name is actually Zanders. Your family, my family, and Heather's family are the ruling powers. Your mom and dad were the King and Queen of the magical realm but after the accident and his disappearing act, the Kitlocks, Heathers family, have been doing everything they can to get their daughter on the throne. The easiest way, of course, would be if we you know married and stuff." His voice trailed off as memories of their past relationship flooded into his head. He shook his head and continued once more. "Our families ruled side by side for a long time before my of ancestors fell in love with one of yours. That brought your family into the mix and ever since that, the Kitlocks have been trying to get back on top."

So that was what Heather was talking about. Duncan stared off at the wall. I tried not to invade his thoughts but I hadn't yet learned how to control my power.

"Heather was the one who killed Geoff." I said quietly. "She said she was going to kill people one by one until I gave her my life." A tear slipped from my eye. Great, I was crying again. Duncan's hands clenched into fists.

"She will not touch you. I promise." He said harshly. "I will do everything I can to stop her." The thought of Duncan dying at the hands of Heather came to mind. That thought made me bring my legs up to my chest and brought a storm cloud of sadness over my head. "She won't hurt me either." He whispered.

I didn't listen to him. My thoughts were overwhelming. I rocked slightly back and forth like a crazy person. Duncan pulled his arm around me and rubbed my shoulder gingerly with his thumb. "Is that all?" He looked at me for the first time in awhile. "Is that all that you needed to know?" I nodded. He wiped the few other tears that had managed to escape away from my face.

He slid himself back further onto the bed and laid down. He pulled me back with him and I curled up next to him. "I promise it will be okay. I promise she won't hurt you, me, or anybody else." He kissed the top of my head. Why was all of this happening to me? Why couldn't I just be back at my old house with my old life and just be normal. Now I have an enemy. Great.

xXx

Duncan and I had fallen asleep on my bed after that. We hadn't been talking. Not outloud or in our heads. We'd just been laying there enveloped in our deep thoughts only semi aware of each other's existence. My thoughts had been cluttered. There wasn't a clear path throughout them. I hadn't the faintest idea what Duncan was thinking about. My thoughts overpowered his. We slept for a few hours before I woke up. I didn't want to wake him up so I got up quietly and let him sleep.

I had an idea of where to take the information Duncan had given me. I walked over to my laptop and started it up. After waiting for a bit, I logged in and opened my internet browser. My homepage had been automatically set to the school's homepage which was perfect for this little hunch of mine.

There was a section labeled _Founders_. I clicked on it. A gorgeous page came up. There was nothing more than four names on there. Each one was a link to another page. My options were: _The Zanders Family, The Kitlock Family, The Tanner Family, _and _The Stevenson Family_. I decided I'd just go in order and clicked on the Zanders family. Surely this would give me more information than Duncan had.

The page looked just as the previous page had. There wasn't much on the family. The page read: _The Zanders Family was another rich and powerful family. They're actually the original rulers of the supernatural world. No one knows exactly why they aren't anymore. It seemed that after they helped build the Stughi they just kind of went under the radar. The Zanders Family originally ruled with the Tanner Family… but not anymore. Their latest heiress, Courtney Zanders, was sent off to a logair* _**(A/N: * indicates a word that I made up. Definition at the bottom****)**_ family and was put under the name of Courtney Anderson. _

So Duncan was right. Part of me still wished that this was all just a very long dream or a practical joke. But I knew it wasn't. I didn't put much more thought into it and clicked on the next name; The Kitlock Family. The page was as follows: _The Kitlock Family has been around for centuries. The latest heiress to the throne being Heather Kitlock. Their large fortune is known among the school board and they are pleased to know that it was the Kitlock Family that built Stughi for those of supernatural world. They are known for having a wide range of powers, many of which others outside of the family do not even know about. That is a main reason they are of such great value to the supernatural world. _

There was a family tree underneath the description. I looked at briefly but something caught my eye. At the bottom was Heather and next to her was Chris. Which meant… Heather and Chris were… siblings. My jaw dropped. I remembered that vision I had of Chris that told me he'd lived for a very long time and it made me wonder about Heather. What _was_ she? What was_ he?_

I clicked over to the next one before I began hyperventilating. The Tanner Family. _The Tanner Family also helped create this place with their large fortune. At one point in time this family ruled the supernatural world. Down the family history, there was a man who fell in love with a member of the Kitlock Family. After that it seemed that it was fate for the two families to be conjoined as one and rule side by side. But another member fell in love with one woman from the Zanders Family, ruining the Kitlock-Tanner rule for a few generations._ Just as on Heather's page there was a family tree showing me Duncan and Mark at the bottom.

There was only more family. Duncan hadn't mentioned it before though. I'd read about myself, Heather, and Duncan… so who was left? I clicked on the last link and read: _The Stevenson Family didn't really do much for this place, but they pitched in a little. The Stevenson Family was never really in control and they weren't born magical. Frances E. Stevenson was a scientist. He molecularly combined DNA to turn himself into a supernatural being. The scientist then gave any living relatives his creation and from then on, all descendants had supernatural powers. _Curious, I looked at the family tree. I traced it down to the bottom and found Gwen. _Gwen?_ _Gwen_ was…_Created?_ The thought was odd. I would have to ask about that later. It seemed hardly significant to my research at the moment though.

"Oy," I groaned. "So much information and not enough points that tie together." I grumbled to myself. I rubbed my temples and closed my eyes. "What to do… what to do," I repeated to myself. My thoughts drifted off once more. There were so many things that could be put together. But I didn't have enough information to make certain inferences. Duncan shifted in his sleep. He mumbled to himself and I giggled quietly.

"Courtney, get your sweet ass back over here." He called. I wondered how long he knew I was over here.

"Fine, but only because you called me Courtney." He smirked, eyes still closed. I walked over there and lay down next to him. He pulled me close.

"You were gone for so long. What were you doing over there?" I shook my head to tell him it was nothing important. He was still groggy enough that he bought it. He opened his eyes finally. It seemed after sleep his eyes were brighter than normal. The deep cerulean sucked me and I found my lips meeting his. He pulled me on top of him and his hands traveled down to the small of my back. Our tongues met and my hands messed with his hair. His traveled down further, gripping my thighs.

There was a knock at my porch door that startled me. I jumped up off of him and looked over. The curtains were closed so I didn't know who it was. I got up slowly and made my way over there. I slid open the door slowly and saw Heather. She grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and took me outside with her.

"I told you. Do not get too close to him. And what did you do? You got close to him." Her eyes were squinted in anger. I was terrified. She pushed me to the end of the deck and nearly knocked me off it. "Guess you'll have to make it up to me." And she pushed me. That was that. I was falling. I didn't know how high up it was but the fall seemed to go into slow motion. I saw the ground come closer and closer and closer until-

"Fuck!" I opened my eyes and I was on my floor. Was that all just a dream then? My head started pounding in one specific spot. I placed my hand there and groaned while throwing my head on the floor. It felt wet. I lifted my hand and blood dripping off it. Great.

"Princess! Are you okay?" Duncan helped me. I could see the grogginess in his eyes.

"I'm fine." He had lifted me to where he could cradle me in his arms. "Put me down I'm ahhh!" the pounding got harder. I closed my eyes tightly with the hopes that this was just a dream too. "Why does it hurt so fucking bad!" He snickered. "This is not funny!"

"I've just never heard you cuss like this before. Come on. Let's get you bandaged up." He started for the door.

"No, I'm fine." He laughed and continued walking. I kept my hand on my head and on no time we were in the nurse's office. Duncan explained to the woman at the desk what had happened and they put me on a little cot in the back. The room was a bright white. It hurt my eyes to be open so I kept them shut.

xXx

"Alright, I've got her all stitched up and since it's so late why don't you guys just sleep in here so you don't get in trouble for being in the halls?" The nurse spoke softly, thinking I was still asleep.

"Okay," Duncan stated indifferently. He shuffled a bit, probably making himself more comfortable. "Princess," He whispered. "I know you're awake. Open your eyes."

I couldn't help but smile. He'd seen through my ruse. I opened my eyes to see him smirking at me. "Feeling better my Clumsy Princess?" My smile left and a glare replaced it.

"I fell asleep. That was _not_ my fault. I am _not_ clumsy. I am _not _a princess. And I am _not_ yours." I said coldly. He only laughed and told me to go back to sleep. I flipped over on the cot only to be inflicted by a major pain in my head. "Owwwww," I whimpered quietly.

"You're cut is on that side. You'll have to sleep on this side for a little while." Duncan had apparently gotten up and walked over to me. He gingerly rolled me back over and brushed my hair back out of my face. I saw a slight smile creep up on his face as he looked down at me. He kissed me my head very softly where my cut was and told me to go to sleep. I did as he said. He walked back over to his chair as I waited for sleep to come to me. I didn't have to wait long, either.

My dream was vivid that night…

_It started on a beach with me kissing Duncan. It was nice, and then I noticed something, I was wearing a ring. But not just any ring, a wedding ring. "This has to be the best honeymoon anyone in the world has ever had. I love you Duncan." I whispered softly. He smiled at me. I didn't know where we were. I had never been to the beach before but it seemed so real. _

"_I love you too, Princess."_

_The dream then flickered to a large home. Inside there were four kids running around. On the couch was Duncan, he looked about thirty and in the kitchen was me. I assumed that this was supposed to be our future. Our little family was so cute._

"_Duncan, will bring the kids in here?" I called to him._

"_Sure," He replied pleasantly._

_Duncan sauntered in, carrying two children who looked to be twins and of the age of 18 months while two other children ran after him. He plopped the babies down into their highchairs and turned to the small girl who calling, "Daddy," over and over again until he gave her his undivided attention._

"_What's up?" He asked._

"_When are Auntie Bridgette and Uncle Geoff coming over?"_

"_They said they were going to be here tomorrow." Her eyes lit up. They were the same color as his. She looked a lot like him, actually. They even shared a smile._

"_Yay! I want to see Sam!"_

"_Of course you do. Now sit." He didn't seem to happy about his little girl wanted to see this Sam character. Must have been a boy. The little girl fixed her deep blue eyes onto her chair and ran to it, her long black hair waving behind her._ _Duncan looked up and smirked at me. _

_The dream then flickered to a small cottage. Inside looked to be me and Duncan with more small children, only we were aged and there were other adults sitting on the couch. I recognized the woman with the deep blue eyes and medium length black hair to be the little girl from the last scene, all grown up._

I woke up after that. It was a short dream, but it seemed very like-life like my visions. Part of me wondered if it had in fact been a vision of our future…

I looked over to see a smiling Duncan. "Why are you smiling?" I gave him a suspicious look.

"It's pretty damn cute that dream about me Princess." He winked.

"I was not dreaming about you! And watch your mouth!" Deny, deny, deny was apparently the way I was rolling today.

"Uh-huh, sure." He smiled again.

Frustrated, I stood up. The room spun around me and I found it hard to stay up. Duncan got up immediately and steadied me. I shook him and started to walk out.

"Hey, Princess." He called. I clenched my fists. "Forgetting something?" I turned to see a key dangling from his fingers.

"Give. It. To. Me." I said through gritted teeth. He only winked. I was about to scream but I was interrupted by a stifled cough. We looked over to the woman who was in our detention room yesterday.

"Weren't you two supposed to be serving detention yesterday?" She asked.

"We did." Duncan replied.

"Yes but you left _early._ Which means you need to get in there now and finish serving it." I groaned. _'I got this.'_ Duncan thought.

"I think you're mistaken, we didn't leave early. We left when our time was up. Mr. Walls assigned us a short detention since I'm his favorite." He flashed a smile her way. She thought for a moment.

"He didn't tell me that, but this kind of thing has happened before so I'll let it slide. My eyes practically popped out of my head. How could she buy something so easily? I dipped inside of her head and she was happy. Happy that she didn't have to sit through another detention. Wow. So that was why. Talk about lazy.

I turned my attention back to Duncan. "What time is it?"

"Six in the morning, why?"

"Give me the key so I can go back to my room and get ready for class!"

He laughed heartily. "Admit that you were dreaming about me." He taunted. I looked at him angrily. I walked up to him, closing the distance between us. He looked surprised. I touched his chin softly and brought his lips to mine.

"Duncan, won't you please just give me the key?" I whispered into his ear. His hand was dropping to his side. I kissed him once more, this time more passionately. "Please," I begged. I took the key and slipped it into my pocket. "And one more thing." I kissed him one last time.

"What's that, Princess?"

"Suck it." And I ran. I ran as fast as I could without passing out because of my newest injury. I heard him cuss behind me and take off after me. I felt like I'd been running for a long time and that I should have been to my room already. But something stopped me. I collided with someone and landed on my butt.

I grunted as I fell and looked up to see a chuckling Duncan. "But how did you… oh right… super speed." I grimaced.

"Told you it comes in handy." He hoisted me up up over his shoulder and stalked off to our rooms.

"Put me down you ogre!" I shouted pounding on his back. Alas, it was to no avail. We reached our rooms shortly there after and placed me on the ground. I glared at him and unlocked my door.

"See you at breakfast, Princess."

"See you at breakfast, Princess." I mimicked. He chuckled at my childish behavior as I walked in to my room. I slammed the door shut and his chuckling was immediately muted.

**A/N:**** Feel free to review. It would be greatly appreciated. **


	7. Angels

**A/N:**** I hope you guys have as much fun with this story as I do. Haha, read on now. :)**

As I got ready for the day someone stopped by room. It seemed I would never catch a break around here. At least it was just Bridgette. She was tolerable. I had her sit down as I finished up my morning routine. When I was finished I came and sat down with her. "What's up?" I asked.

Tears formed in her eyes. This must have been about Geoff. "Courtney… did you really see Geoff… die?" Her voice cracked as some of the tears spilled. I nodded to her, solemnly. How did you break the news of a death that hadn't happened yet? It was certainly a unique situation. "Can you save him, Courtney?" she grabbed my arm and looked at me with those beautiful blue orbs of hers.

"I'll try my hardest." I said trying not to succumb to tears like her.

Being the optimist that she was, hearing that I would try was enough for her. "Is there any way that I can help?" I thought about all the information that I had gathered and something actually had come to mind that she could do.

"Actually, do you know the woman in the front office?" I remembered that terrible woman and then couldn't get her image out of my head.

"Uh, the super pale woman with really dark hair?" She asked. I nodded. "Sure, why?"

I told her about the vision. She was horrified as I was but agreed to help me. She was going to dig some information up this woman for me.

"Thanks Bridge."

"Anytime. See you at breakfast!" She skipped off out of my room and I stayed out on my bed. I should have been writing this stuff down as I go. I could be forgetting something. I noticed a Sharpie laying on my desk and got another idea. I walked over and picked it up and began writing on my walls. I wrote down vivid descriptions of my visions, drew diagrams, and made notes of things I'd learned along the way. In the end it was enough to almost cover one full wall. I looked at it carefully. Someone would think I was crazy if they saw this. I laughed to myself. My clock flashed 7:30 so I decided it was probably a good time to leave.

I grabbed anything I would need for class and started to leave. I opened the door and saw Duncan who was apparently about to knock on the door. I gasped out of fear and dropped all of my stuff. "Crap," I muttered. I got down on my knees to pick everything up. I heard a snickering next to me and looked over to see Mark. Great.

"Jeez, Courtney. Couldn't you wait until he got into the room?" What was he talking about? I looked up at Duncan and then I realized where my face was. I grimaced. I stood up.

"Go the fuck away you fucking little bitch. You know we weren't doing anything, you idiot perve. Get. Away. From. Me!" I yelled and fell back onto his butt. His eyes went wide.

"How did you… how did you do that?" I had no idea what he was talking about. All I could see was red and I wanted him dead. I started to advance towards him but something held me back.

"Let go of me Duncan." There was no emotion in my voice.

"Courtney. Courtney, baby, calm down." He stroked my back. I didn't struggle against his hold. I only stared at Mark. If looks could kill, then he would be dead. Then it happened. Mark started writhing in pain.

"Stop! Courtney please! I'm sorry!" He cried. He yelled more but his words became silent to me. He began to bleed in various places and it seemed he was screaming louder. Everything went back to normal, though, when I was pushed back into my room. I was laying there, on the ground, mind blank. I couldn't focus on what I was looking at. I couldn't hear anything around me. It all slowly came back to me. Duncan was placing something down on my bed and picked me up. He sat me down next to what he'd put down. It was my stuff that I'd dropped in the hall.

He stood in front of me and looked into my eyes. "Oh, good." I sighed in relief. "She came back. That's a good sign." He muttered off to himself. "Courtney? Courtney I know you can hear me. Talk to me. Are you okay?" He sounded concerned so I spoke.

"What happened to Mark?" I asked. He looked dumbfounded. "Why was he in so much pain? Was somebody using some kind of power on him?" His jaw dropped.

"Remarkable…" he muttered. "You don't know? You don't know that you did that?" I cocked my head.

"No I didn't. I only have those two powers. Remember?" I smiled at him. He squinted his eyes.

"Fuck." He closed his eyes and then looked at me again. "Come on, Courtney. Let's go get you something to eat real quick before class." I nodded at him and we left. There was a crowd of people in the hallway but Duncan got me away from it quickly. He muttered something over his shoulder back at the crowd that I couldn't understand. I ignored it, thinking he was just cussing again.

They were cleaning up when we reached the cafeteria but Duncan managed to get me a banana and a milk carton. It was just white milk. Which was okay. It was my favorite. I ate the banana on the way to our class. Duncan was carrying my things. He didn't say anything to me but I was too concerned with my delicious banana to realize the oddness of it. We finally made it to the classroom. Duncan put my stuff down and went up talk to Mr. Walls. They continued to look at me. I couldn't hear either of their thoughts. It was like when Chris' thoughts went off when I was talking to him before. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen him since that day. What did he do everyday? My thoughts drifted off and I forgot about Duncan and Mr. Walls' conversation until Duncan came back over to me.

"Courtney." He said. I gave him my attention and waited for him to speak. "Will you go somewhere with my after school?" I squinted my eyes in confusion.

"Yeah sure Duncan. Why, though? What's up?" He smiled at me. But something about his smile was off. It was different. I couldn't read his mind to see what was going on like while he was talking to Mr. Walls.

"Just wanna spend some time out of school with my sexy girlfriend." He winked. His facials were still off. But what he said took precedence.

"Don't call me sexy, you pig. And I'm not girlfriend."

"Oh really? I'm pretty sure you are." I didn't fight him anymore because the lecture for the day started and I really needed to start paying attention in this class. Duncan didn't doze off today. He only sat there staring at the wall. No comments. No looks. No thoughts. No nothing. He was just there. I was beginning to get scared. He was like that for the rest of the day too. Just empty.

We walked to our rooms hand in hand, in silence. Many people looked at me. I assumed it was in shock. But some of them looked genuinely terrified. What was going on around here? Had what ever happened to Mark been that bad? What even happened to him? I hoped Duncan would explain things on the way the way to wherever he was taking me.

When I got into my room there was a note on my floor. Someone had slid it under my door. I picked it up and read _TO: Courtney :) FROM: Bridgette :)_ on the front of it. It was like a letter that you would leave in your friend's desk in elementary school. I smiled at the innocence of the situation. But the smile was wiped right off my face once I started reading its contents.

_Court, _

_I found more info on that woman. (Ya know, the one you had that crazy, freaky vision about?) Yeah, well her name is Natalie Kitlock. She's married to Chris (Crazy right?) but everyone refers to her as Leslie Brookes. She's a shapeshifter and has been around for hundreds of years. She preys on the souls of young females to regain her health and beauty. Each year they do this weird ritual at the end of October. I don't know which day exactly but they gather many young girls (all virgins) and basically murder them all. I don't know why, but Chris goes by Chris McLean instead of Chris Kitlock. (He probably figures Chris is a common enough name, but I don't know.)_

_That's all I could find._

_-Bridge :) _

A shapeshifter? That's a real thing? I guess I shouldn't have been shocked by that, I was pretty sure that anything was possible. I was impressed by the amount of information she'd found. But how on Earth did she find so much? I disregarded the question that lingered around in my head. I took my sharpie out and wrote down this new information on my walls of writing. God, this writing made me look insane. I chuckled to myself. I continued to stare at the walls and noticed something was lacking. "I need to know more about my family… my _real_ family." I muttered to myself. The thought of my family (the one I had lived with for years) not being _my_ family made me shudder. Thinking these people were my family for so long…. Stop it Courtney!_ They _are_ your _family!No matter what! Even if they're not your _biological_ family!

I planted myself in front of my computer. There _had_ to be more on the school website. I opened up the page and searched around. There weren't many things to search through, just the school tools, brief school history, and that page full of the funders. Nothing there was of use to me so after an hour of searching I gave up. _Giver upper._ I glared at the voice in my head.

There was a knock at my door. "You about ready, babe?" Duncan called through the door.

Crap. Duncan. I'd forgotten we were going somewhere. I hadn't done anything to get ready. "Uh… yeah! Well almost! Just give… twenty minutes? Please!" I heard him mumble something sexist. I was pretty sure I'd heard his door shut too which meant he'd gone back in there. Good. That would be plenty of time to get ready. I turned off my computer and swiveled the chair around so I could get up.

I was about to stand up but I couldn't. It was like I was glued to my seat. I couldn't make myself move instead I just stared at was before me. A woman clothed in a long elegant long white gown with a single thick strap over her left shoulder. Her hair fell in ringlets to her waist and the color of it matched the color of mine. Her skin was fairly pale but her eyes… her eyes were darker than the night sky… just like mine…. A faint glow shone around her making everything about her look angelic. She had freckles, more than me, but in the same area I had mine.

"Courtney," She murmured in a melodic voice that was all too familiar. "Courtney dear, you've grown up to be such a beautiful young woman." She smiled a ravishing smile. "You may not believe this but I'm your mother Courtney. My name is Piper Zanders and you are my gorgeous daughter, Courtney Michelle Zanders." I flinched when she said daughter.

She took a step towards me, to which I stepped – well, wheeled – back. Hurt washed over face along with confusion. I noticed her glow fade just a touch.I wasn't sure what to think so I just said the first thing I could think to say. "You are _not_ my mother." I stated coldly.

"But-"

"My mother's name is Tiffany Renee Anderson." I interrupted. "And my name is Courtney Michelle ANDERSON." I snapped harshly. "I don't know what the hell is going on here but I don't care what you or that website says." I pointed to my laptop. "YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER! My mother would not have abandoned me when I was an infant!" I shouted. I wanted to believe what I was saying, but for some reason I couldn't.

A tear trickled down her face as she whispered, "It was for your own safety. She would have killed you in the end. And I could not have that. Neither your father nor I wanted that." I shook my head slowly not noticing the tears that had fallen as I yelled at her. I stood up and backed up to my door that led to my deck and watched as she vanished away. Only slightly did I notice what looked to be wings appear out from behind her. Maybe I was just delusional, who knows? But who was that 'she' she was talking about? _'She would have killed you.'_

I went out to my deck and sat down in the corner. I looked up at the stars. I wished I was one of those stars. All I would have to worry about was sitting in the night sky, twinkling. I sighed and looked down. I had no idea what to think. She looked so much like me… or, I looked so much like her, I should say. Part of me wished I would have embraced her. Another part of me wished she would have stayed longer.

"Courtney?" A voice whispered breaking the silence of the dark night. "Is that you…? And are you… crying?" It continued. I recognized who the voice belonged to and stood up.

"Mark?" I replied incredulously. He didn't say anything, instead he just jumped from his (and Duncan's) deck.

"How did you…" I asked astonished that he'd jumped from deck to deck. He smirked. Again the smirk seemed all wrong. But it didn't make me angry this time. It just seemed like he was trying so hard to be like his brother. I pitied him. But under that pity lay a thick layer of anger that began to rise upon the sight of him. I didn't know where it was coming from. He'd yet to do anything wrong today.

"We're magical remember?" He replied.

"So, what? Being magical automatically means you can do whatever the hell you want?" I asked snottily.

"Eh," I rolled my eyes. Why was he even bothering to be over here? I was pretty sure he hated me.

"So what do you want?"

He looked away from me, as though his answer was a difficult one. "You were uh…" he paused and quickly glanced at me before returning his gaze to the ground. "You were crying…." He said rather quietly. I thought maybe I had imagined he said that until he looked back at me and used his thumb to wipe the tears I had forgotten about away. I flinched slightly at his touch. "Courtney… I… I really," He paused again.

"What Mark? You what?" He didn't say another word. Instead he forced his lips to mine. The kiss was weird. It was different, and not a good different either. I pushed him away before anymore could happen. I glared and he looked slightly frightened but at the same time proud of himself. However his fear was greater and was beginning to prevail. In his mind he remembered what had happened while he was in the hall in so much pain. I continued to glare before saying the last thing I'd say to him in a long time. "What is wrong with you?" I didn't give him a chance to answer. Without looking at him, I opened the sliding door, walked into my room, and slammed it did he have the audacity to do that? He knew how I felt about Duncan! Or at least, he sort of did. But seriously?

I sighed heavily and walked to the door that led to the main hall. Right before I reached it, someone knocked. I opened it, being careful not show off any view of my walls. A slightly worried Duncan stood in my doorway. He smiled when he saw me. "Hey Princess, you ready-" he stopped talking and his expression went from concerned, to nervous, to angry. Very, very angry. I mentally slapped myself for not pushing the previous events to back of my head so he would not detect them when reading my mind. I looked at him worriedly, trying to figure out what he was going to do but his mind was still blocked.

"Mark," he said harshly, grinding his teeth together. "I'm going to kill him." He was about to take off but I grabbed his hand to stop him. Yes I knew he was supposed to be super strong and whatnot, but I didn't care. He wouldn't hurt me. _Hopefully._ Duncan completely froze suddenly and stared at me. He looked sad, hurt. He turned so he faced me fully. I was still holding onto his hand. "Courtney," He whispered softly. All of the previous hatred was gone from his voice. He tilted my head up and then placed his hand on my cheek. "I would never hurt you. Ever. I promise. Don't ever doubt that. Please." I nodded slightly. His sullen look depleted. Most likely the thought of Mark came back up.

"Don't Duncan." I warned. "Just leave him." He looked at me as if I was crazy but he nodded his head in agreement. We stared at each other for a moment but it felt like a lifetime. The intensity of his deep blue eyes went on for miles and miles like an ocean. "Ready to go, yet?" I asked with a smile.

"Oh you're real cute." He said sarcastically. He grabbed my hand and dragged me off down the hallway. I had never been on the end of the school he took me to. I saw many people I hadn't seen before. Many of them looked at me in confusion. Their thoughts told me it was because they didn't know me, but they knew Duncan. And they wondered why I was with him.

We reached a parking lot and he carted me over to a limo. "A limo?" I scoffed. "Doesn't this seem a bit much?"

"Well where we're going, we'll need it." He winked. He opened the door for me and I got in, him following in suit. I had never been in a limo. It was so luxurious. I could have melted in the seats, they were so comfortable. A window slid down revealing his driver. Duncan nodded to him and he received a thumbs up in response. The window rolled back up and I looked at Duncan.

"What was that about?"

"He knows where we're going. Now relax. We're about to take off."

"Take off…?"

"Oh yeah. This limo is magical. It flies." I stared at him in disbelief. He was so 'whatever' about the subject. "Just relax." He put an arm around me and I rested my head on his chest. After I'd gotten comfortable thoughts of what happened in my room took over my mind. I'd forgotten about her. Thinking about her brought more tears to my eyes. I didn't try to hide them because I knew Duncan would be reading my mind and wouldn't need to ask what was wrong. He rubbed his thumb back and forth on my arm.

"You're not the only one that's happened to, you know. Sometimes they like to come down and visit us. I know it was hard for you. But she is your real mother. Don't deny that." I didn't respond and he didn't push me to do so either. We didn't speak the rest of the way there. He just sat there playing with my hair and I stared at the seat in front of me.

It felt like an eternity before he finally said, "We're here Princess." I got up and followed him out of the car. We were outside of a cabin in a forest-y area. It seemed like the place one would die at in a horror flick.

"Duncan, where are we?" Fear lined my voice. Before he could answer a man stepped through the door to greet us. "Mr. Walls…?"

xXx

We were sitting inside on plushy sofas. Duncan and I were on the loveseat and Mr. Walls was on the actual sofa across from us. I felt blind sighted. Both of their minds were still blocked. "What's going on?" I questioned.

"We need to make this quick." Mr. Walls stated. "So let me get this straight. You don't know what happened to Mark this morning?" That's what this was about? What did any of that have to do with me? It's not like it was my fault. I nodded, regardless. "Huh," he seemed to be making mental notes. "Courtney I want you to read this either tonight or tomorrow. Just some time soon. Come back after you have and we'll discuss more. We have a problem we need to fix." He handed me a leather notebook. It had a magnetic flap holding it closed and the pages were lined in gold. A raggedy bookmark held the place of something about three-quarters of the way into it. I nodded again, not sure that I had any words. "Like I said, this needed to be quick." He looked around the room nervously. "You two need to go now." Duncan go up immediately and pulled me up with him.

"Thanks," He said. "See you in class." Duncan and I scurried out the door and got back into the limo. I started to open the book but Duncan placed his hand over mine causing it to close once more. "Not here. You have to be alone. There's a spell on it. You won't be able to read it unless you're alone. It's for your eyes only. Though I already know of most of contents." Spell? Spells were now in the equation? Awesome.

"Why can't I hear your thoughts anymore?" I asked, off topic.

"Another spell. To keep you safe. It'll wear off soon, I promise. And I promise you'll understand more soon." He sounded like an adult talking to his child.

"But-"

"Shh," He cut me off, placing a hand over my mouth. He took the book and tucked it away. "Rest until we get there, okay?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "But I don't want to do that." I pouted. He laughed, causing me smile at my childish behavior.

"Oh Princess. You make me smile." He said quietly. He then snapped his fingers and we were in the parking lot.

"What the hell?"

"What? We're magical, remember?" He said that just like Mark had. He even had a smirk on his face. The words frightened me, but only because Mark had said it too.

"Why didn't you just do that when we were going there earlier?"

"I thought you might like some time to just think. Some times that's the best thing you can do." He was right. And it was nice to just think. This magic thing was so crazy. "Come on, Princess. It's like 10:30. Time for you to get some sleep." We walked back in and it took us nearly thirty minutes to get back to our rooms. We talked about insignificant things, but it didn't matter. I just loved talking to him.

When we'd finally gotten there he gave me the book back. "Wait until tomorrow to read it, okay? Just get some sleep. It's been a long day for you." I nodded at him as I unlocked my door.

"But, I'm not really that tired." I said. But a yawn that came up disagreed with me. He laughed.

"Sure you aren't Princess."

"Shut it."

I started to walk into my room before he called me once more. "Princess?" I came back to him and he pulled me into a goodnight kiss. "Need me to come and sleep with you?" He asked in a seductive manner.

"You couldn't go just one day without a perve-y comment could you?" I yelled at him. He walked towards his room while laughing and I shut my door. Sighing, I collapsed on my bed and fell asleep in a matter of seconds. That night I dreamt the mother of all nightmares.

_She stood there looking rather evil but at the same time emotionless. Her long hair was the blackest of blacks. She seemed familiar. Her raven eyes glared down towards another woman. The other woman was beautiful. She was young. Her eyes were like dark holes in her face. Her curly brunette hair was tied in a ponytail. She carried an infant that resembled her almost entirely. The only difference was that the infant had tanner skin than, who could only be assumed as, her mother._ _No sound was made. Even the wind that whipped around ferociously could not be heard. The infant was bawling her beautiful eyes out as her mother held her closely. The other woman held her hand out as her expression turned to a horrifyingly evil smile. A bright yellow flashed flew out of her hand, obliterating neither the mother nor the infant unharmed. _

_All the noise erupted. You could hear the excruciating wind. You could hear the cries of the infant. And you could hear the mother whisper faintly, "Courtney,". Though the woman had not been harmed by the flash, she began to deplete into extinction. The vile woman walked over and picked up the child, cradling her as though she were her own. She looked up putting a finger to her mouth like she was shushing someone. But no one else was around. Then everything flashed to a dark cave-like area. The woman was standing over a table where she had the infant lying. She was clothed in a dark cloak with the hood up. She moved her hands over the baby while murmuring words. The infant seemed not to be phased by this. _

_She then looked up and smiled. The baby grew immediately into a teenager. She was… me. I was lying on the table, unconscious. The woman then formed into another woman. She threw her hood off and you could see that she was Natalie. Her dark hair quickly changed to a lighter shade, regaining its waves. Her body shape thinned a bit. But her dark eyes didn't change. They stayed a dark almost purple-ish color and in their ravenous state. She lifted me up bridal style I crumbled into ash in her arms as she laughed a quiet, evil laugh._

_"I'm coming for you Courtney." She whispered._

**A/N:**** I began chapter eight today and I hope to have it up some time tomorrow. Depends on how much homework I have to do, though. Fingers crossed! I hope you guys enjoy this so far. I know I changed it up some, but I hope it wasn't too dramatically different for you guys. Review please. Oh and, I own nothing but the story and OCs. :)**

**I hope things came off all right because I didn't check over them. :P**


	8. AN

**Quick Author's Note! Thanks to all who re-read this story! No, I did not revise it. If it anything is unclear please so. If you have any questions or suggestions leave a review and I will most certainly reply to it. I am open to all criticism and help. Thanks so much, you guys are awesome. :)**


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